Phillies suddenly feeling good
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Phillies suddenly feeling good
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
Shane Victorino is all heart, so you tend to know exactly how he is feeling, regardless of the actual words that are coming out of his mouth. When he is speaking in run-on sentences and barely pausing for a breath and taking multiple detours in a single answer, he is usually feeling really good, and that is how the Phillies center fielder was speaking last night. Yesterday at Busch Stadium III, the vibe emanating from this Phillies team was as upbeat as I can remember it being this season.
The trick, of course, is making it last, which is why they play the games, but you have to be encouraged by how the Phillies have responded since they dropped the first two games of their series against the Nationals earlier this week.
Offensively, it all starts with Carlos Ruiz, and the early results of his move to the clean-up spot are intriguing. Forget about his individual performance for a minute and consider that Victorino is 4-for-8 with a walk, two doubles, a home run, three runs, and five RBI over the last two nights since moving into the five-hole.
Hunter Pence does not have a hit in his two games back in the three-hole, but he has drawn three walks, and has scored three runs. And all of that makes you think that maybe Ruiz really is a clean-up hitter, and that the best lineup Manuel can field at this point in time has his one-time No. 8 hitter as the centerpiece. It makes some sense. For whatever reason, the last two players to make extended attempts at filling in for Ryan Howard at cleanup have failed. Jayson Werth did not respond well in a brief tryout, nor did Hunter Pence in a longer one. Manuel said after last night's game that he does not understand, that a hitter should be overjoyed to be hitting fourth, but he also admitted that many of todays hitters are creatures of habit who can allow a simple change in their batting order position to throw their equilibrium out of whack. Ruiz, on the other hand, does not get thrown out of whack easily, except by injury, which is the one glaring concern about his taking on such an important role in the offense. Ruiz has shown in his postseason performances that pressure does not really affect him, at least not from a negative standpoint. So maybe it does make sense to put him at No. 4 and let Pence and Victorino hit in spots where they are more comfortable. Time will tell if the last two nights have been the start of something good.
"I used to hit him in the second cleanup spot," Manuel joked, referring to the eight-hole. "Now I moved him up to first. That's what I tell him."
Since the move, Ruiz is 6-for-9 with a double and a strikeout. He seems to hit wherever he hits. Batting seventh this season, a .347/.380/.597 line, batting sixth, .333/.429/.667, batting fifth, .367/.444/.533. You used to think part of Ruiz's production could be attributed to the fact that the pitcher hit behind him. No longer.
"This is the best I've seen him swing," Manuel said.
The Phillies have three more games against the Cardinals, more than enough time to erase the good feeling that pulsed through the clubhouse last night. On the other hand, imagine what three wins would do for the confidence of guys like Victorino.
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they might be feeling good about themselves now, but what happens when they lose the next couple of games. Rollins should NOT be leading off. They need to find a good leadoff hitter.Bad Blanton should not be a starting pitcher on this team either should Killme Kendrick. How long will RA wait to make moves. If trades are needed then do it before the season gets to far along. I also do not see utley or howard playing this season.— rfklak- Smart players are helping. Freddy's impressive in all aspects since a cold start hitting. Chooch! Fontenot's a winner vs MiniMart/Orr. Pierre isn't anymore-awful fielding/arm & mistakes. His .331 slugging only beats JRoll & Mayberry thx to .299BA lucky start/IF singles. Does anyone else think coaches aren't pulling their weight like Samuel as 3B coach?— phillies6pack
- When did we get Jason Werth back? Lol.... Mr. Editor?— SecondToNone
- Charlie, while you are moving guys around... move Qualls to the unemployment line. Then move Blanton to the long relief role..Bring up Elarton to take over the Blanton starting role.. Keeping Blanton and Qualls in regualr roles will continue to hurt the team.— bradco
- I wouldn't get too excited about one win. There's still 3 games left to go.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- I wouldn't get to excited about one win.It's ashame you're talking to phillies fans.Remember it doesn't take much to excite them.— tobyjoe
- The reason we had a football score last night was the umpire's strike zone. Blanton wasn't great, but when you make two slow ball pitchers throw it down the gut, well, good Wiggy kicked the extra point.— cuyatm
- We just outslug the best hitting team in the NL and I'm feeling good. Jimmy arriving 4 hours early for yesterday's batting practice showed in his approach to the plate. If we can somehow win this series, we have turned the corner. We need Mayberry to step up which requires Cholly to play him everyday. Ok, Debbie Downers, have at me !— rockinginthefreeworld
- Victorino should be leading off then, according to the comments I see today. He usually works the count, to hit or coax a walk, but he has to guard the plate more with two strikes on him. The umps are totally undependable there. He can go from either side of the plate, is good out of the box, and always a threat to steal, which bothers most pitchers. FOLLOW him with Pierre against righties, and he either moves Shane along, let's him steal, or tries to get on himself if Shane fails. And if he hits, Shane scores!
I have never liked Poly batting second...not producing much in spite of his average...which is average right now, yes? But he is more potent against lefties, and I like the way he is still going to right for either hits or moving runners along. Jroll hits into too many outs right down the line, or limply to second. HE needs to go the other way more, rather than pull everything. Shane may give you the occasional dinger from the one hole even better than Jimmy. Is it in his contract to set a record for leadoff homers or something? I hope not. Yes, he NEEDS to be dropped...no spark there anymore, whereas Shane is a powder keg waiting to erupt. Others will have to, and can, pick up the rbis he's pulling in now...and he can score Galvis and the pitchers or pinch hitters when given the chance...which will likely be more often, but don't ask me how I arrived at that theory.
Chooch is in the perfect, obvious spot right now...Pence must either produce from his wild swings or get dropped. I'd like Poly third, and Ty is doing great making people pitch to him if they try to avoid Ruiz. Big John has to get going again, 'cause I like his fielding and speed on the bases. But if not, then we need somebody else from LV.— ocpizza - amazing for a team with all of these flaws pointed out on a daily basis by the posters on these boards, that the Phils are only 4 games behind the Nats for 1st place with 120ish games to go. One would think that they are 10 games out.— ESFjellin
- It's just a Philly thing, ES...or purely a baseball one. We just like to fiddle with things, and "help out" wherever we think we can. Blame it on all the high falutin' social media craze today. Sad, isn't it?— ocpizza
- Pierre is not the solution to anything, I would rather struggle with Mayberry or Luna in the OF. Pierre cannot steal a base when he needs to any longer, and he is a liability in the OF. The other thing is that the OF plays so shallow for him that he cant drive a man in from second even with a hit, nor can he hit a sac fly even. He is done.— phight on
- This is day-old news. why is is still on the website? Is the DN sports coverage $$$ budget shrunk to a level where they need to recycle columns?— 1republican
- My,oh my. Everyone has an opinion here, and most of them are absurd and only display their lack of knowledge. Stop bad mouthing the players as if they are out there purposely trying to make mistakes. There is plenty to cheer about with this year's team. All I expect from any professional athlete is that he give their best. This team is doing that.— kd45music
- Once again the DN posts a two day old column. Is Murphy on vacation or hasve your travel budget $$$ been reduced by the new ownership? The sports coverage is beginning to stink.— 1republican
